Dr. Fereydooni Awarded ACS Resident Research Scholarship

February 9, 2023

Dr. Arash Fereydooni has been awarded a Resident Research Scholarship by the American College of Surgeons (ACS). The scholarship is for $60,000 over two years to fund the resident's research. Fereydooni will study peripheral calcium score development and automation.

"Throughout my career, scientific research has been a permanent element of my education with the ultimate goal of joining the ranks of academic surgeons whose clinical work and research interests are mutually informative," said Fereydooni. "This multidisciplinary project, led by Dr. Shipra Arya, is grounded in scientific work that complements my interests and previous research, builds upon my prior basic science investigation of vascular disease as well as my experience of studying clinical outcomes in large databases."

Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) is often complicated by vessel calcification, which is challenging to accurately diagnose using current modalities. Notably, Peripheral Calcium Score (PCS) is based on the measurement of calcification burden in arteries using the CT scans.

"We aim to explore the predictive value of this imaging marker for risk stratification in patients with PAD using the Stanford Healthcare data set. We also aim to compare calcium detection thresholds in vivo and ex vivo in contrast vs non-contrast studies to minimize radiation exposure in the future. Lastly, we will be performing singe-cell sequencing and proteomics analysis on amputation specimen collected from the operating room to understand mechanistic pathways for calcification patterns and its overall burden with PAD," said Fereydooni.

Arash will be working under the mentorship of vascular surgeon-scientist and section chief of vascular surgery at the Palo Alto Va, Dr. Shipra Arya, a prolific health services research.

Fereydooni is the ninth winner of the ACS Resident Research Scholarship from the Stanford Department of Surgery, but the very first from the Division of Vascular Surgery. Previous award winners include:

• George P. Yang, 1996–1998 (Gen. Surg.)

• Randall P. Nacamuli, 2002–2004 (Gen. Surg.)

• Filiberto Rodriguez, 2002–2004 (Plastics)

• Serena Tan, 2011–2013 (Gen. Surg.)

• Geoffrey Krampitz, 2013–2015 (Gen. Surg.)

• Peter A. Than, 2013–2015 (Gen. Surg.)

• Clement Marshall, 2015–2017 (Gen. Surg.)

• Deshka Foster, 2017-2019 (Gen. Surg.)

• Ashley Titan, 2018-2021 (Plastics)

"We are so proud of Arash for getting this prestigious award! Well deserved, a true testament to his dedication and passion for surgical science. We look forward to hearing more about the great work he is doing," said Vascular Surgery Residency Program Director Dr. Venita Chandra.

Fereydooni will present his research at the Annual Clinical Congress in the 2nd year of his award (2025) to present a report on the research as part of the Scientific Forum.